Efforts to address vacancies are the result of many years of failure and shifting the shortcomings onto private individuals. Politics must start where the actual mistakes lie.
Vienna (OTS) – The demand for the introduction of a vacancy tax has previously been part of the standard repertoire of left-wing ideologists. The government wants to suggest to its voters the ability to act in the 2024 election year. In the future, the states should be able to set higher penalties for vacancies as they see fit, without a limit. The constitution and the Constitutional Court have so far prevented this.
ÖHGB President RA Dr. Martin Prunbauer comments on the government’s plan with “Anyone who owns property should pay a penalty in the future.” Politicians want to increase the ownership rate and overlook the fact that such measures result in exactly the opposite of what is intended.
Just from the fact that, according to the 2021 building and housing census (GWZ), there are 635,000 apartments or buildings in Austria without a primary or secondary residence registration, it cannot be concluded that these apartments are empty. Statistics Austria confirms that there are many reasons why an apartment had no report as of October 31, 2021: The apartment may have just been for sale or rent, it may be an allotment house or the apartment may be inhabited, without anyone being registered at the address. “Anyone who has ever experienced a court case over a right of entry knows that the police report is only an indication. In any case, it says nothing about who lives where, when, how and why.” There is also – as has been much discussed – a “natural vacancy”.
There is still no well-founded definition of vacancy. Vacancies can have many reasons. Apart from an enormous amount of bureaucratic and financial effort, it is still not clear how vacancies can be recorded without any doubt. The non-evident evidence presented by the Ministry of Finance around two years ago says nothing about the real situation of a vacant property. This applies to a lack of registration of your main residence as well as low electricity consumption.
Austrian tenancy law is already one of the most strictly regulated tenancy laws in the world. It is high time to finally free this law from its clutches.
For example, it’s about eliminating tenant-related vacancies by finally putting an end to excessive entry rights. “The cheap apartment in an old building should no longer be allowed to be kept for grandchildren or abused as an apartment for attending concerts.” This sophisticated abuse extends to private and social rental apartments and is not addressed by politicians.
The vacancy surveys carried out so far – for example in Salzburg a few years ago – turned out to be de facto mere estimates.
The disregard for the fundamental right to property and its gradual erosion cause serious socio-political damage. Measures similar to expropriation endanger the existence of many people who have laboriously saved up property and purchased it as a precaution for old age.
Prunbauer: “As absurd as it sounds, it cannot be ruled out that demands will arise according to which people who live alone or as a couple in “apartments that are too large” will also be asked to pay if they exceed a certain living space,” and concludes: “A shift of the federal responsibility for public housing to the federal states is not well thought out.”
More about the ÖHGB
The Austrian House and Landowners Association (ÖHGB, www.oehgb.at) is the largest voluntary interest group for Austrian house, land and apartment owners. The main task of the ÖHGB is to protect and promote private property and to protect the common interests of private property owners. The approximately 30,000 members are divided into nine regional associations, which provide their members with well-founded legal, tax, insurance, construction and financing advice and other extensive information and services. In addition, the ÖHGB and its regional associations pursue active professional policy in the representation of interests at all levels in the interests of their members.
Questions & Contact:
Austrian house and property ownership Dr. Marie-Theres Ehrendorff Press spokesperson Tel.: +43 676 3239 645 marie-theres.ehrendorff@oehgb.at
